Hyten Blasts Huey Replacement Process, Pledges a New Helo Eventually

October 15, 2018

The Air Force’s missile fields will get a new helicopter, no matter what, the head of US Strategic Command pledged Wednesday as the acquisition program continues to slow. “We’re going to get a new helicopter, if I’m going to die trying or kill somebody to do it,” STRATCOM boss Gen. John Hyten said Wednesday at the STRATCOM Deterrence Symposium in Omaha, Neb. The current process to replace the UH-1N Huey fleet is “taking way too long” as it has been slowed by protests by Sikorsky Corp. and delayed requests for proposals. In the meantime, Air Force Global Strike Command has upgraded its current fleet with new capabilities, such as better avionics, armament systems, and the ability to refuel at alert facilities, to make the helicopters more effective at its mission of protecting the missile fields. “That Huey is now armed, that Huey can now refuel at missile fields … it’s doing things a few years ago it couldn’t,” Hyten said. —Brian Everstine, AF Ass’n